Automatic selection station



Dec.- '6, 1938. P, ABELOQS 2,139,324

AUTOMATIC SELECTION STATION Original Filed Nov. 25, 1933 7 Sheets-Sheetl l4 fre ofroz/p 3' we f h Fig. 2.

. INi'ETT6k' 4 Paul Abelaos H15 A TTORNEY Dec. 6, 19 38. ABELOQVS 2;139,324

AUTOMATIC SELECTION STATION Original Filed Nov. 25, 1933 '7 Sheets-Sheet2 1 INVENTOR Paul Abeloos cmtmzfitaavk 2? v BY 5mm HIS A TTORNEY Dec. 6,1938.

P, ABELOOS AUTOMATIC SELECTION, STATION Original Filed Nov. 25, 1933 '7Sheets-Sheet 3 .INVENTOR AbeloaJ H15 ATTORNEY Dec. 6, 1938.

P. ABELOOS I AUTOMAT 10 SELECT ION STAT ION Original Filed Nov. 25, 1933'7 Sheets-Sheet 4 W W W IWVENTOR m Afieloas QJZnf H115 ATTORNEY Dec. 6,1938. P. ABELOOS 2,139,324

AUTOMATIC SELECTION STATION Original Filed Nov. 25, 1933 7 Sheets-Sheet5 i231 3w; P T

- INVENTOR Paul 41904008 H18 A TTORNEY Dec. 6, 1938. P. ABELOOS2,139,324

AUTOMATIC SELECTION STATION Original Filed Nov. 25, 1933 7 Sheets-Sheet6 IN VENT OR Paul Abeloos f; J I

HIS A TTORNEY 1938. P. ABELOOS 2,139,324

AUTOMATIC SELECTION STATION Original Filed Nov. 25, 1933 7 Sheets-Sheet'7 ZZ I i V 3 I W-562 2 052065071 .5) "j wa /520022)? B} 129 SMXC/FCVINVENTOR Y Paul Abel oos My. 5.

H16 A TTORNEY Patented Dec. 6, 1938- AUTOIVIATIC' SELECTION STATION PaulAbeloos, Juvisy, France, assignor, by mesne assignments, to The UnionSwitch & Signal Company, Swissvale, Pa.,

Pennsylvania a corporation of Application November 25, 1933, Serial No.699,798.

Renewed September 16, 1936.

cemher 17, 1932 35 Claims.

This invention relates to a system for recording orders and transmittingthem in a given succession, on the one hand to operating mechanism forthe automatic control thereof and on the other hand to an annunciatorfor the guidance of an operator responsible for the control of othermechanism. The present invention is particularly applicable, though notlimited thereto, to a centralized trafiic control system forestablishing the routes for a series of cars or cuts of cars in arailway classification yard, especially where the cars to be classifiedare pushed over a hump and then move under their own inertia to theclassification track, the movement of the car being governed by carretarders or car riders as desired.

I will describe a system embodying my invention as applied to a railwayclassification yard, and will then point out the novel features thereofin claims.

One feature of the invention consists in permitting the use of the samerecording apparatus for two purposes: first, the automatic control ofoperating mechanism so that the recorded orders may be carried outautomatically in whole or in part; and second, the display of the ordersto an operator, by means of a series of visual indicators.

A further feature of the invention consists in the system of automaticdistribution of the orders to the operating mechanism according as thepreceding orders are used. A further feature consists in the system ofannouncement to the operator comprising a series of indicators forexhibiting the recorded orders in the sequence in which they are to beused. Other features and advantages of the invention will appear as thespecification progresses.

In railway classification yards it is advantageous to set the railwayswitches for the successive cars either automatically, or by having anoperator stationed at a control station within the yard govern theoperation of the railway switches in accordance with the orderstransmitted to him. Again, it may be advantageous to arrange forautomatic operation of the switches near the hump which perform thegreater number of movements, leaving to the operator at the centralstation the control of the switches farther back in the yard and whichhave a lesser number of movements to perform. Furthermore, if carretarders are utilized, it may be advantageous to give the operator ofsuch devices special indications, for example, quality according to thenature of the load of the cars, so

In France Dethat certain cars may be given special handling. The systemforming the subject of the present invention fulfills these twofunctions.

The accompanying drawings will serve to illustrate by way of example thesystem applied to a railway classification yard and in which Fig.

1 is a diagrammatic view of the network of tracks under consideration.Figs. 2 and 2 when taken together with Fig. 2 placed at the left are adiagrammatic View of the apparatus for recording and storing thedestination orders. Figs. 3 and 3 when taken together with Fig. 3 at theleft are a diagrammatic. view of the apparatus for announcing the orderstothe operator at the central control station. Figs. 4 and i when takentogether with Fig. 4 at the left are a diagrammatic view of theapparatus for transmitting the recorded orders to the operatingmechanisms for the railway switches, and Figs. 5 and 6 representportions of the system as modified to provide for the automatic controlof the switch points without announcements and constitute a second formof the apparatus.

In each of the several drawings similar reference characters refer tosimilar parts.

For each car to be classified the head operator records theclassification track to which that car is directed. The result of suchrecord is- 1. To effect in good time the automatic operation of theswitch points in advance of the car in order to direct that car to thedesired classification track.

2. To announce to the operator at the central control station theselected route and to announce special indications.

It is possible either to record in advance the selected routes for allthe cars of a train to be classified or to effect such recording as andwhen the cars are pushed over the hump. In the first case the systemmust be such as to permit the recording of a large number of routes; inthe second case, it is sufiicient to provide for the storage of therecords for only the number of routes equal to the maximum number ofcars or cuts of cars which may be at any given moment moving from thehump to the classification tracks, for instance, five.

In describing the system as applied to the classification yardillustrated in Fig. 1, I will assume that the maximum number of recordsto be stored at any one time is five and that a single indication ofquality is to be transmitted at times, for instance, the indicationFragile. It is to be understood that the system may be applied 0 aclassification yard having any arrangement and any number of tracks andpermits of any number of simultaneous records and also any number ofquality indications.

Referring to Fig. 1, cars to be classified will move from the hump trackshown at the left-- hand end of the drawings to the right to any one ofthe five classification tracks designated by the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4,and 5, the different routes from the hump to the classification tracksbeing governed by the railway switches designated A, B, C, and D. Ishall assume that the points A and B are to be operated between theright and left-hand positions as viewed from the left-hand side of Fig.1 by switch machines of any standard type, the operation of which isautomatically controlled. I shall also assume that the movements of theswitch points C and D are under the control of an operator at thecentral control station who may operate the switches mechanically,electrically, or electropneumatically. As shown in Fig. 1, the humpstation or head point is indicated by the reference character PB and atthis station the routes for the different cars are recorded. The centralcontrol station is indicated by the reference character PC and at thisstation the orders recorded at the hump station are received and stored,the operator responsible for the operation of the switches C and Dandcar retarders if used being stationed preferably at this point.

The installation as a whole comprises the following essential elements:Thehump station PB from which the orders for the destination and qualityof the cars to be classified are transmitted; the central controlstation PC where these records are received, stored and'exhibited in theform of announcements to be used by the operator at that station formanual control of the switch points C and D, and from which they aretransmitted to effect the automatic control for the switch points A andB; and the line circuit equipment which transmits these orders betweenthe hump station PB and the control station PC and between the controlstation PC and the several railway switches.

I. The principal apparatus located at the hump station PB (left-hand endof Fig. 2) is as follows:

1. Two independent rows of push buttons: the first row is that of thequality buttons comprising a normal button I l and a quality button I 2.The second row is that of the route buttons V1, V2, V3, V4. and V5,corresponding to the routes from the hump to the classification tracks1, 2, 4, and 5, respectively. The button Normal is provided with twocontacts while each of the other buttons is provided with threecontacts.

The first two contacts l6 and I! of the route buttons are used to recorda route through the medium of a combination of group relays G1, G2, andG3 and of row relays R1 and R2 to be referred to later, and which arelocated at the central control station PC. The last contact l8 of theroute buttons serves to control the route recording selector SE to bereferred to later, and which is also located at the central controlstation.

2. A bell S which after five records have been stored operates in thefollowing cases:

(a) If none of the five last announcements stored at the central stationhas been cancelled by the operator at that station, in which case thebell relay RS is released.

(1;) If none of the five stored routes has been actually passed over bya car, in which case the total passage relay TF is released.

The operation of these relays and apparatus at the hump station will bedescribed hereinafter.

As regards the central control station PC, the apparatus (Figs. 2 and 2for effecting and storing the records of the hump station will first bedescribed and consists of the following- (a) A plurality of relayassemblages or groups which store the different orders. That is to say,a relay assemblage or group is provided for each successive destinationwhich is to be recorded. In the example here taken, there will be fivesuch relay assemblages since the destination of five different cars isto be simultaneously stored. These relay assemblages are indicated as awhole by the reference characters E1, E2, E3, E4, and E5. These relayassemblages are all alike and consist of a corresponding number ofrelays and, hence, it is thought that a description of one will sufficefor an understanding of all. Referring to E1, the assemblage consists ofthree group relays G1, G2, and G3; two row relays R1, and R2, a qualityrelay Q, a control relay C1, a section relay K1, and a clearing relayF1.

The corresponding relays G, R and Q of each assemblage E in turn areenergized directly over the same line wires when the contacts of theroute and quality buttons at station PB are momentarily closed. In orderto provide the maximum number of orders with relatively few relays andline wires, the relays are operated two or more at a time, in differentcode combinations, a selected group relay G and a selected row relay Rbeing operated for each order, the quality relay Q being also operatedwhen required. It will be apparent that with this arrangement the numberof available route orders equals the product of the number of grouprelays and row relays in each assemblage.

For the routes of Fig. 1, for orders of quality Normal the codes havebeen assigned as follows:

Route 1, relays G1 and R1 energized. Route 2, relays G2 and R1energized. Route 3, relays G2 and R2 energized. Route 4, relays G3 andR1 energized. Route 5, relays G3 and R2 energized.

In the codes for orders of quality Fragile, relay Q is also energized,these codes being otherwise similar to those listed.

As stated above, each of the relay assemblages E1, E2, E3, E4 and E5consists of a similar group of relays. In the following descriptioncorresponding relays of the diiferent assemblages (except the group androw relays) will be identified by the reference character of the relaywith a numerical suffix corresponding to the assemblage, for example,the clearing relays F1, F2, F2, F4, and F5 refer to the clearing relayfor the assemblages E1, E2, E3, E4, and E5, respectively.

(b) A recording selector SE which selects the relay assemblage to beoperated in response to the recording of a destination at the humpstation. The selector SE may take different forms and, as here shown, isof the type which advances automatically from one operating position to.the next upon deenergization of a stepping magnet ll for actuatingfinder brushes. In this instance the selector SE actuates four brushesin a clockwise direction over four banks of contacts BE, BF, BG, and EH.Each bank of contacts consists of twice as many contacts as there aresimultaneous records to be stored. In each bank these contacts arerepresented by the symbols lc, lk; 20, 2k; 3c, 3k; 40, 41;; 50, 51:- Thebank BE,

. the wires 261, 262

which serves to advance the selector, has its is contacts connected inparallel by the wire I9 to the last contact of the quality buttons I Iand I2 and from thence to the third contact of each of the route buttonsin parallel. The brush for the bank BE is connected to the steppingcontact i of the selector magnet TI.

The brush of the bank BF is connected by the wire 23 to the last contactof the route buttons, and the contacts 0 of the bank BF are connected inparallel by a wire 22 to the operating winding of the stepping magnet'I'I of the selector.

The bank BG has its contacts 0 connected by wires 241, 242 to backcontacts 7' of the control relays C1, C2. of the relay assemblages andfrom there by the wires 251, 252 to the section relays K1, K2. the brushof the bank .BG being connected to a positive terminal I39 of anyconvenient source of current such as a battery not shown. The bank BGthrough its control over the two relays C and K of the relay assemblagesis effective, as will be described hereinafter, to cancel the old recordand then to establish a new record of the group, row and quality relaysaccording as to which of the route buttons V1...V5 and the qualitybuttons II and I2 at the hump station are operated.

The bank BH has its contacts is connected by to the positive terminal 31of the current source over front contact ii of the clearing relays F1,F2 of the different assemblag-es, and its brush connected by the wire 21to the winding of the total passage relay TF, for energization of thatrelay when a car has cleared the last automatic switch point of theroute resulting from the record under consideration. The operation ofthe clearing relays F1, F2 is determined by selectors CRA and CRB andthe route relays V1A, VzA and V1B, V2B which will be describedhereinafter.

The recording apparatus also includes a manually controllable cancellingrelay AN normally energized by a simple circuit extending from thepositive battery terminal 28 at the hump station. This relay controls atits front contact a the stick circuit of a route placing relay MR, andat its d contacts the different relay assemblages.

There will now be described the operation of recording the destinationof a car to be classified assuming that the selector SE of the controlstation has stopped at the position 5k as shown.

With both the hump station and the central control station supplied withproper sources of current, the cancelling relay AN is at once energizedby the circuit extending from the positivebattery terminal 28 at thehump station. The clearing relays F1 .F5 are next each energized by apickup circuit extending from the positive terminal 29 at the centralstation, a back contact a1, az...a5 of the route placing relay MR whichis deenergized at the start, the corresponding wires 361 and 3I1, 392and 3l2, etcl, to the windings of these relays and thence to theopposite terminal of the current source and these clearing relays areall picked up. These clearing relays are each maintained energized by astick circuit formed in the case of relay F1 from the battery terminal 31i over contact d1 of the cancelling relay AN, wire 33, back contact 9of the section relay K1, wire 32, front contact b1, the winding of therelay and to the opposite terminal of the current source. The routeplacing relay MR is now energized over a circuit extendr ing from theterminal 35 associated with the assemblage E5 and the contacts c1 of thevarious clearing relays F connected in series in the wire 36, winding ofthe relay and to the opposite terminal of the current source, and thisrelay MR is picked up to open the pickup circuits of the clearing relayswhich are now held energized over their stick circuits.

The total passage relay TF is energized by a circuit extending from theterminal 31 over contact f1 of the relay F1, wire 261, contact 51; andbrush of the bank BH of the selector SE, wire 21, winding of the relayTF and to the opposite terminal of the current source. The relay RS atthe hump station is also energized by current supplied from the controlstation over the wire W in a manner to appear hereinafter. It followsthat the cancelling relay AN, the clearing relays F, and the routeplacing relay MR of the central control station are normally energized,together with the total passage relay TF and the relay RS at the humpstation.

In order to efiect a record for the destination of a car to beclassified, the operator at the hump station presses simultaneously on aroute button, for example V1, and a quality button, for example, Fragilebutton I2. The relay MTF for maintaining the relay TF energized duringthe passage of the brush of bank Bl-l from one contact to the next isnow picked up over a circuit from the terminal 38, contacts or and h ofthe relays TF and RS, respectively, wire 39, contact I8 of the buttonV1, winding of the relay MTF and to the opposite battery terminal. Atthe same time the magnet T! of selector SE is supplied with current fromthe terminal 38 over contacts g and h, wire 39, contact I8 of the buttonV1, contact m of the button I2, wire I9, contact 5k and brush of thebank BE, the back contact 2', wire 2|, and the winding of magnet H tothe opposite battery terminal. Upon energization of magnet 11 itscircuit is broken at the contact 2 and hence is immediately deenergizedand in consequence thereof the selector SE advances its contact brushesto the respective contacts lc. Upon arriving at this new position magnetI! is energized 1 from the terminal 38 over contacts 9 and h, wire 39,contact I8, wire 23. the brush and contact lc of'the bank BF, wire 22and the winding of magnet TI to the opposite battery terminal, and isheld energized as long as the button V1. is depressed. The selectorhaving advanced to the position '0, the section relay K1 is energizedfrom the battery terminal I39 over brush and contact '0 of the bank BG,wire 261, the lower contact 7' of the control relay C1, wire 251, andthe winding of the relay K1 to the other battery terminal, As the relayK1 is picked up, it breaks at its back contact 9 the stick circuit forthe clearing relay F1 and that relay is released, the relay F1 in turnopening the pickup circuit to the relay MR at its front contact e1. Thislatter relay is nevertheless retained energized by a stick circuit fromterminal 29 including its own front contact a1 and the front contact aof the cancelling relay AN. The advancing of the selector SE to the loposition is effective to also supply current from the terminal I39 overthe brush and contact IQ of the bank BG, wires 241 and 24a, contacts 12in series of the group, row and quality relays of the assemblage E1,wire 48 and winding of the relay C1 to the opposite battery terminal,and relay Cris energized. When energized, the control relay C1 breaks atits back contact j the circuit to the section relay K1 and that relay isdeenergized.

The energizing of the control relay 01 also completes recording circuitsfrom the terminal H 'atthe hump station as follows:

(1) Contact 1/ of the button I2, contact I6 of the route button V1, linewire 42, contact p of relay C1, winding of the group relay G1 and to theopposite battery terminal.

(2) Contact y, contact ll' of the route button V1, line wire 43, frontcontact r of the relay C1, winding of the row relay R1 and to theopposite battery terminal.

(3)'Contact o of the button I2, line wire 44, contacts 8 of the relayC1, winding of the quality relay Q and to the opposite battery terminal.

These relays G1, R1 and Q of the assemblage E1 are therefore energizedin response to the operation' of the buttons I2 and V1 and aremaintained energized from terminal 34 by stick circuits that include aholding winding, their own front contacts t, and the contacts 9 and d1of the section relay K1 and the cancelling relay AN, respectively. Thecircuit for the control relay C1 is now open at the contacts 11 of theselected group, row and quality relays and that relay is released.

When the operator ceases to depress the route button v1, the maintainingrelay MTF is deenergized, its energizing circuit being broken at thecontact I8. At the same time the maintaining circuit for magnet 11 ofthe selector SE is broken and the selector advances one step to thecontacts Ik upon its deenergization. There has now been described thecomplete operation of recording a route for a car to be classified, therecord being in the form of a selection of the relays of .the assemblageE1 according to the destination of the car. The selector SE has advancedto its next control contact, in this instance to the contact Ik. Thetotal passage relay TF will remain energized after relay M'I'F releasesbecause it will now receive current from terminal 31, Fig. 2, over thef1 contact of the clearing relay F2 of the assemblage E2, wire 262 andthe contact I1; of the bank BH. The manner in which a second record ismade from the position I k of the selector SE- and the advancing of thatselector to its next position 2k, and so on, will be evident. It isclear that the operator at the hump station can proceed to record thedestination of five separate cars, the destinations of the separate carsbeing rccorded and simultaneously stored by the five relay assemblages,the selector SE advancing one operating position in response to eachrecord made.

It should be noted that if the hump station comprises severalindications of quality capable of being applied to the same car, any oneof these indications may be recorded by pressing on the correspondingquality buttons while maintaining the route button depressed. Each ofthese indications will be recorded by a special Q relay of theassemblages at the control station.

The quality normal is intended for cars not having any specialcharacteristic. For these cars a route button and the normal button I Iare depressed at the same time, the record of the route being efiectedwithout any record of quality.

The records set up at the different relay assemblages are maintainedduring a complete rotation of the recording selector SE. When theselector has returned to the position k, it is only possible to effect asixth record if the contacts g and h are closed, that is to say, if therelays RS and TF are energized. The conditions for operating the relayRS will be described later.

It will be noted that as the selector SE moves to the different ispositions, relay TF is held energized over the brush of bank BH, wire262, 263, etc., and contact f1 of the relay F for the assemblage next inadvance, and that since the circuit for the stepping magnet 11 includescontact 9 of relay TF, the operation of a push button V will not advancethe selector unless the next assemblage is unoccupied. and its clearingrelay F is energized. -However, since all five clearing relays wereinitially energized in the case described, it will evidently be possibleto store records successively in each of the five assemblages E.

The selector SE having been operated around to its 5k position, therelay TF will become deenergized unless the clearing relay F1 is firstreenergized, it having been seen that after the completion of the firstrecord this clearing relay F1 was released. Relay F1 is reenergized atthe moment when the first car passes over the last automatic switchpoint in the route corresponding to the order stored in the assemblageE1, if at this moment the respective switch selector ORA or CRB is atthe position where its finder brush for its contact bank corresponds tothe contact I. For a car intended for routes 2, 3, 4 or 5 of Fig. 1,this switch is switch B and the circuit for the relay F1 is traced fromthe battery terminal 45 shown at the right-hand end of Fig. 2*, overfront contacts 46 and 41 of the route control relays V2B and V1Bassociated with the switch B, (these control relays are shown in Fig. 4and their operation will be described in detail hereinafter, and therespective front contacts 46 and. 41 are shown in Fig. 2 remote from thewinding of the relay for the sake of simplicity), brush and contact I ofthe bank BXB of the switch selector CRB to be referred to later, andthence by wire M1 to the winding of the relay F1 and to the oppositebattery terminal. For a car intended for route 1 of Fig. 1, switch A isthe last switch to be passed over and the circuit for relay F1 is formedfrom the terminal 48 over the front contacts 49 and 50 of the routecontrol relays VzA and V1A for theswitch A, (these relays are likewiseshown in Fig. 4 and their operation will be described hereinafter, thecontacts 49 and 50 being shown remote from the windings of the relaysfor the sake of clearness) the front contact 5| of a directional relayRD, the brush and contact I of the bank BXA of the selector CRA to bereferred to later and wires 52 and 3h to the winding of the clearingrelay F1 and to the opposite battery terminal. It will be noted that thefront contact 5i of the directional relay RD is interposed in this lasttraced control circuit for the clearing relay F1 to render that circuitinoperative at a time when cars intended for routes 2, 3, 4 or 5 clearthe switch point A and to render it operative only for the cars intendedfor the route 1, that is to say, the cars for which the switch A is thelast automatic switch. The directional relay RD is energized only whenthe finder brush of the bank BV of the selector CRA is on a. contactcorresponding to a record for the route 1, that is to say, only when theG1 and the R1 relays of the respective relay assemblages are energized,as will be understood by an inspection of Figs. 2 and 2.

To sum up, the clearing relay F1 is reenergized at the moment when theroute recorded in the assemblage E1 is utilized by the car. It is thenmaintained energized over its stick circuit previously traced. If thenthe clearing relay F1 and consequently the total passage relay TF arereenergized, it is possible to effect a sixth record,

assuming, of course, that the relay RS is also energized in a manner toshortly appear. When the sixth record is made at the hump station, thesection relay K1 will become energized as previously described, and asthat relay picks up it will break at its contact 9 the stick circuitsfor the group, row and quality relays of E1 still energized since thefirst record and these relays will now all be released. In deenergizing,the group, row and quality relays will complete at the back contacts nthe energizing circuit for the control relay C1 and that relay will bepicked up in response to the sixth record in the same manner aspreviously described for the first recrd. With the control relay C1picked up, the group, row and quality relays will be selected inaccordance with the sixth record made at the hump station. It will beseen, therefore, that the cancellation of the old record is assuredbefore a fresh one can be effected.

An auxiliary manually controlled contact 53 is provided at the centralstation and is interposed in the wire 54 leading from a battery terminal55 over contact 12. of relay RS to linewire 39 extending to the humpstation and permits the operator at the central station to shunt thecontact g of the total passage relay TF so as to eliminate the functionthereof. In this latter case, the records no longer depend upon thepassage of the cars over the route set up but only on the closing of thecontact 53 and on the energizing of relay RS by the cancellation of theannouncements, as will shortly appear.

II. There Will now be described, with reference to Figs. 3 and 3 thesystem for decoding and displaying to the operator at the centralcontrol station, in the form of visual announcements, records stored inthe relay assemblages in the manner above explained. As before, theapparatus only will be described in broad lines, the details of thevarious apparatus only appearing in the explanation of the operation.

The system for the announcement of the route records to the operatorcomprises essentially a route-announcing table constituted by as manyvertical rows I, II, III, IV, and V of lamps L1 L2 L as there arerecords to be kept at the same time, for instance, five in the examplechosen. The number of lamps in each row corresponds to the number ofclassification tracks, which is also five in the present instance.

The illumination of the lamp corresponding to the route recorded in thecorresponding relay assemblage is governed by lamp row selectors SR1,SR2, SR3, SR4, and SR5. These selectors are preferably of the typesimilar to the selector SE and are advanced automatically, and eachcomprises two banks BJ and BK each provided with a finder brush and asmany contacts as there are classification tracks (five in the case underconsideration) plus one rest contact R for which no lamp is illuminatedin the corresponding row. The bank BK serves to control the selector bymeans of its finder brush, the control of the selector being inaccordance with the well-known arrangement in which it adjusts itselfautomatically to the position in which the brush of the bank BK is on alive contact. The contacts of the BK banks having like reference numbersare connected in parallel to a series of relay contacts operated by theG and R relays of the different relay assemblages E1 to E5, the relaycontact series corresponding to a bank contact being alike in eachassemblage. For example, the circuit including contacts 6| and 64 ofrelays G1 and R1, (closed when route 1 is recorded) in each of the relayassemblages E1 to E5 is connected to a bus wire I2I which is alsoconnected to contact I of bank BK of each of the selectors SR1 to SR5.Similarly, the circuits including contacts 62 and 65 of relays G2 and R1(route 2) are all connected together and to the contacts 2 of all of thebanks BK by a bus wire I22. The bank BJ serves to select the lampcorresponding to the recorded route by simple circuits as will beunderstood by an inspection of Figs. 3 and 3 Each announcement displayedby illumination of a lamp may be cancelled by a cancelling button BAwhich, when depressed, is effective to extinguish the particular lampsand substitute in the row of the extinguished lamp, by a freshillumination, the announcement of the next following record. Theextinction and substitution of announcements initiated by the button BAare eifected by a route announcement selector SA which is controlled bythe contact '54 of the cancelling button BA in a manner to shortlyappear. The route announcement selector SA, which acts on the lampsthrough the medium of five extinguishing relays EX1 EXs, comprises sixbanks BM, BN, BO, BP, BQ, and BS, each having five contacts. The bank BMcontrols the extinguishing relays. The banks BN, BO, BP, BQ, and BS havetheir respective brushes angularly displaced by one contact and eachcorresponds to a row of lamps.

The extinguishing relays EX1 to EXs are each provided with two contacts56 and 51, the first of which, 56, connects a holding winding 66 of therelay to a terminal 94 of the current source to form a stick circuit forthe relay, wire 58 and a back contact 59 of the corresponding sectionrelay K1 K5 already described in connection with Fig. 2 being interposedin the stick circuit. The contact 5? is interposed in the connection ofa wire 60 with the relay contacts of the associated assemblage. In thearrangement under consideration and referring to assemblage E1, the backcontact 51 of relay EX1 connects the wire 661 to the front contacts 6|,62 and 63 of the three group relays G1, G2 and G3, respectively, and toback contact I6I of relay G1, in parallel. The contact 6| of relay G1 isconnected in series with the contact 64 of the row relay R1, and thesetwo contacts GI and 64 form a decoding contact series for an announcingcircuit for energizing wire I2I corresponding to the track route 1. Thecontact 62 of relay G2 is connected with contact 65 of relay R1 andthese two contacts 62 and 65 form a decoding series for an announcingcircuit for energizing wire I22 corresponding to the track route 2.Contact 62 is also connected with contact 66 of row relay R2 and thesecontacts 62 and 66 form a decoding series for an announcing circuit forenergizing wire I23 corresponding to track route 3. The contact 63 ofrelay G3 is connected to the contact 61 of relay R1 for completing anannouncing circuit for energizing wire I24 corresponding to track route4, and to a contact 68 of the relay R2 for completing an announcingcircuit for energizing wire I25 corresponding to the track route 5.There is also provided a special circuit which leads from wire 60, overback contact 51 to a bus wire 69 called the rest wire, the back contactsI6 I I62 and I63 of the group relays being interposed in the connection.The wire 661 may also be connected directly to the wire 69 over thefront contact 51 of the extinguishing relay EX1. It will be understoodthat each of the remaining wires 66'is connected over the contact 51 ofthe associated extinguishing relay and over the different series ofrelay contacts in the associated assemblage to the bus wires I2 I, i22,etc., in exactly the same manner as just explained in the case ofassemblage E1, to form announcing circuits corresponding to therespective track routes.

The contacts having the same reference number in all the banks BN, BO,BP, BQ, and BS of the route selector SA are connected in parallel to thesame wire 60. As here shown, the contacts I 'of each of the banks areconnected to the wire 601 for the assemblage E1, the contacts 2 to thewire 602 of the assemblage E2, etc. As previously set forth, thecontacts having corresponding numbers in the banks BK of the lamp rowselectors are connected in parallel to the exit of the correspondinganonuncing circuit of each of the relay assemblages.

Each lamp row selector SR1 and its corresponding lamp row is providedwith an independent source of direct current Y which, as here shown,consists of a transformer and a full wave rectifier. Referring toselector SR1, it is provided with current from the source indicated bythe reference character Y1. The sources Y2 to Y5 for the remainingselectors and lamp rows are preferably similar in'each case to thatshown for selector SR1 and are indicated conventionally only for thesake of simplicity.

A cancelling relay AA is associated with the bank BJ of each of the lamprow selectors and is energized as long as the selector remains at therest contact and the'brush of bank BJ engages its contact R.

The operation of the system for announcing the recorded routes to theoperator at the central station is as follows: The successive positionsof the announcement selector SA will be refererd to by the'position ofthe brush of the first bank BM, the position I meaning that the brush ofthe bank BM is on contact I, the brush of the bank BN on its contact I,the brush of bank B on its contact 2, the brush of bank BP on contact 3,and

so on.

Assuming that the announcement selector SA isin position 1 and that norecord has yet been made in the relay assemblages, a circuit can betraced from the positive terminal of each of the sources Y to the restcontact R of a diiferent one of the lamp row selectors. Referring to theassemblage E1, the circuit extends from the positive terminal 10 ofthe-source Y1 over brush-and contact I of bank BN, wire 601, backcontact 51 of the relay EX1, the back contacts l6l, I62 and I63 of thegroup relays to wire 69, and thence to the rest contact R of bank BK1.If the brush of bank BK1 of selector SR1 is not on contact R, theholding winding 80 will be deenergized and a circuit will be closed fromterminal 10 of source Y1, through the operating winding 18, backcontacts!!! and BI controlled by windings 80 and 18, respectively, tothe other terminal H of the source, so that winding 18 will be energizedintermittently to advance the selector brushes step by step. Whenselector SR1 operates to 'where the brush of its bank BK1 engages the Rcontact, the circuit is completed from wire 69 through the holdingwinding 80 of selector SR1 and to the negative terminal H of the sourceY1, so that contact 19 opens and selector SR1 is held at rest. The brushof bank BJ1 of selector SR1 is thus on its contact R and no lamp in therow I is illuminated, the associated cancelling relay AA1 beingenergized, however, over the R contact of the bank BJ1 and front comtact is controlled by winding 80. In a like manner each of the lamp rowselectors is held stationary at its rest contacts R and no lamp isilluminated, each of the cancelling relays AA, however, being energized.

It is to be noted particularly that each of the selectors SR respondsselectively to current from its associated source Y, for the reason thatone terminal of magnet 80 of selector SR1 for example, is connected tothe negative terminal ll of source Y1 only and the circuit for magnet 80is not completed when the positive terminals of one or more of thesources Y2 to Y for the other selectors are connected to the brush ofbank BK1.

Suppose that a record is made in the relay assemblage E1 forestablishing route 3 for a car, that is, the relays G2 and R2 of E1 areenergized. The energizing of relays G2 and R2 of the assemblage E1 iseffective to remove current from the rest contact R of the selector SR1and to render the contact 3 of the bank BK1 of that selector alive and,consequently, this selector is operated until its finder brushes are inengagement with the respective contacts 3. With the brush of the bankBJ1 at the contact 3 the lamp L3 of row I is illuminated to announce tothe operator that a route record for a car destined to track 3 has beenstored.

The energization of relay G2 of assemblage E1 is also effective tocontrol switches A and B to set up route 2 or 3 leading over switch C,as hereinafter explained, but with the apparatus arranged as described,it is to be understood that switch C is controlled manually by theoperator at the control station PC. When lamp La of row I becomesilluminated, therefore the operator at station PC will act accordinglyand will cause switch C to be operated to the right so that route 3 andnot route 2 will be completed when switches A and B are operatedautomatically in response to the energization of relay G2.

Assume next that additional orders for route 1, route 4, route 5 androute 3 are recorded in succession. In the relay assemblages E2, E3, E1and E5, group relay G and row relay R corresponding to these respectiveroutes will be energized in the manner described hereinbefore. In eachcase the recording of the route is effective to interrupt the restcircuit for the associated lamp row selector at the back contact, suchas contact lfil, of the G relay that is energized, and the selectorswill operate to positions determined by the stored code combinations,that is, selector SR2 will operate to the contacts l, selector SR3 tothe contacts 1, selector SR4 to the contacts 5 and selector SR5 to thecontacts 3 with the result that lamp L1 of row 11, lamp L4 of row III,lamp L5 of row IV and lamp L3 of row V will be illuminated to announceto the operator that these successive routes have been stored. It willbe noted that as each lamp row selector is operated away from the restcontact the associated cancelling relay AA became deenergized. When thestation to effect a sixth record as long as the operator at the centralstation has not cancelled one of the previous five records.

This control of the relay RS gives the second condition governing thetransmission of records from the hump station, namely, the progressivecancellation of the previous records by the operator at the centralstation with the subsequent energization of relay RS. The firstcondition is that of clearing a route by a car and the reenergizing ofthe total passage relay 'IF, as described hereinbefore.

When the fifth record has been made and the cancelling relay AA5associated with the lamp row selector SR5 has been released, the circuitto a relay I64 is opened and that relay is released to close its backcontact I55 and complete a simple circuit to an indicator hell it, acontact I61 operated by the holding winding of selector SR5 beinginterposed in the circuit. The bell I65 may be a single stroke bell orany desired indicating device to inform the central station operatorthat an announcement has been recorded on the last lamp row V.

To cancel an announcement, the operator at the central station pressesthe cancelling button BA for operating the selector SA. With the buttonBA depressed, a circuit can be traced from any one of the batteryterminals "I2 over the back contact it of the respective cancellingrelay AA, since all of these relays are now deenergized, contact M ofthe button BA, winding 99 of the selector SA and to the oppositeterminal of the same source of current. In shunt with the winding of theselector SA is a circuit leading to the pickup winding $5 of theextinguishing relay EX1, the latter connection including the brush andcontact I of the bank BM. Relay EX1 will therefore pick up, and willthen be retained energized by the circuit including its holding winding96, its own front contact 56 and the back contact 5?, of thecorresponding section relay K1 of Fig. 2. When the push button BA isreleased, magnet 99 of the selector SA is deenergized and the selectoradvances to the position 2, but relay EX1 remains energized over itsstick circuit.

When the selector SA arrives at the position 2. the brush of the bank BNengages the contact 2 and hence is connected to the wire 652 leading tothe relay assemblage E2. In like manner, the brush of the bank B is inengagement with its contact 3 and hence is connected to the wire 603leading to the asesmblage E3. Similarly, the brush of the bank BP isconnected to its contact 4 and to the wire 664 leading to the assemblageE4, the brush of the bank BQ is connected to its contact 5 and to thewire 655 of assemblage E5, and the brush of the bank BS is connected toits contact I and to the wire 601 for the assemblage E1. It will benoted that the positive terminal It! of the source Y1, which sourceoperates the selector SR1, is now connected over the brush and contact 2of the bank RN to wire 602 and through contacts of the selected relaysG1 and R1 of the assemblage E2, which are arranged for route I, to wireI2! leading to the contact I of the bank BK1 of selector SR1 with theresult that the selector SR1 will new step around until the brush of itsbank BK1 engages the contact I. The brush of bank BJ1 of SR1 being, nowalso in engagement with its contact l, the lamp L1 of row I isilluminated. Consequently, the previous announcement of row II is nowtransferred to the row I. In like manner, the positive terminal of thesource Y2 which operates the selector SR2 is connected over the brushand contact 3 of bank B0 to wire 603 and through the contacts of theselected relays G3 and R1 of the assemblage E3 to wire I24 leading tocontact 4 of bank BK2 of selector SR2 since assemblage E3 is arrangedfor route 4, and that selector operates to the position of contact 4,and the lamp L4 of row II is illuminated. Hence, the previousannouncement of row III is now transferred to the row II. In likemanner, the source of current Y3 for the selector SR3 is connected overthe brush and contact 4 of the bank BP to wire 604 and through thecontacts of the selected relays G3 and R2 of the assemblage E4 to wireI25 leading to the contact 5 of bank BKs of selector SR3. Selector SR3operates to the corresponding position, and the announcement of the rowIV is transferred to the row III. Again, the source of current Y4 forthe selector SRdiS connected over the brush and contact 5 of the bank BQto wire 665 and through the contacts of the selected relays G2 and R2 ofthe assemblage E5 with wire I23 leading to the contact 3 of the bank 3K4of selector SR4 and the announcement of row V is transferred to the rowIV. The source of current Y5 for the selector SR5 is connected over thebrush and contact I of the bank BS to wire 561, front contact 51 ofrelay EX1 and wire 69 with the R contact of the bank BKs of selector SR5and that selector is stepped around to its rest contact and no lamp isilluminated in the row V. With the selector SR5 operated to its restposition, the corresponding relay AA5 is picked up and current issupplied to the wire W for energizing the relay RS at the hump station.

If now a newrecord is made by the operator at the hump station, it willbe stored in the relay assemblage E1 in the manner describedhereinbefore. The energizing of the section relay K1 in response to thisnew record will have the effect of opening the holding circuit for theextinguishing relay EX1 at contact 59 and that relay will be released toclose the back contact 51 and complete the connection of the source Y5over the brush and contact I of the bank ES to wire 601 and through thecontacts of the freshly selected relays G and R of the assemblage E1 tothe corresponding contact of the bank 3K5 of the selector SR5 with theresult that a lamp in row V corresponding to the new record will beilluminated. It is to be seen, therefore, that for each cancelling of anannouncement by the operator at the central station the announcementdisplayed at a lamp row is transferred to the preceding row leaving thelast row free for announcing a new record.

On the other hand, the system prevents the operator fromeffecting morecancellations than there are announcements displayed on his board. Whenhe has cancelled all the announcements, the cancelling relays AA of allthe rows are energized and, consequently, the circuit for the selectorSA is open at the back contact I3 of the AA relays and it is impossibleto energize that selector until a new record is effected in response tothe recording of a route at the hump station.

The central station comprises also a table of the announcements ofquality on which the ad- Vance of the announcements is controlled by thecontact I5 of the push button BA and an associated selector similar toselector SA, but not shown, and is effected therefore at the same timeas the cancellation of the route announcement. The principle isanalogous in the two cases. The

operation of the table of quality announcements will not, therefore, bedescribed in detail.

III. There will now be described the system for transmitting the routerecords stored in the relay assemblages to the motors of the operatingmechanisms for the switches A and B.

Each route record, it will be remembered, is stored by energizing agroup relay in combination with a row relay. If switch C is to beoperated automatically, it is obvious that since each position of theswitch defines a particular route, the same relay combinations as areused to control lamps L2 and L3 of the visual indicator may also beusedto operate switch C to the left and right. Likewise switch D may becontrolled by the same relay combinations as are used to control lampsL4 and L5. However, in the system as illustrated, only switches A and Bare controlled automatically, and since these switches are each includedin a plurality of routes, the arrangement has been simplified byarranging the code combinations so that switches A and B may becontrolled by the G relays only. That is, each record controls switch Bto the left'when relay G2 is energized and to the right when relay G3 isenergized. Likewise each record controls switch A to the left when relayG1 is energized and to the right when either relay G2 or G3 isenergized.

The system functions in such a manner that the track switches A and Bareplaced under the control of the G relays of each assemblage E in turn bymeans of selectors controlled by track relays. As each car vacates aswitch section, the corresponding track relay advances the selector onestep so as to place the switch under the control of the assemblage Econtaining the record for the next following car.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 4 this system comprises a selector CR for eachof the switches A and B, these selectors being further identified by asuffix corresponding to the associated switch. The selectors CRA and CREare'preferably of the same type as the selector SE. Referring to theselector ORA, it is provided with two banks BCA and BDA each of whichhas as many contacts as there are records, that is, five contacts in theexample under consideration. Moreover, this selector CRA is providedwith two additional banks BV and BXA (Fig. 2 each of which is providedwith as many contacts as there are routes, being also five in number inthe example being considered.

The first bank BCA of selector CRA is used for controlling the operationof the switch A to the position for movement to the left when viewedfrom the left-hand side of Fig. 4 that is, to the position illustratedin Fig. 4 The secondbank BDA is used for controlling the operation ofthe switch A to the position for movement to the right when viewed fromthe left-handside of Fig. that is, to the position reverse from thatillustrated-in Fig. 4 The banks BV and BXA (Fig. 2 are used to controlthe clearing relays F1 F5 when a car for route 1 passes over switch A aspreviously explained.

As regards the selector CRB associated with the switch B, it is providedwith two banks BCB and BDB having functions similar to correspondingbanks of the selector CRA. The bank BXB is used to control the clearingrelays F when a car passes over switch B, in the manner previouslydescribed. As regards the fourth bank BU (Fig. 4 for the selector CRB,it servesto ad- Vance the selector CRB when the'switch B is not used inthe route considered, in this instance when a car is routed for thetrack 1. Under such conditions the brush of the bank BU is effective toadvance the selector until it is over a contact for which an operationof they switch B is required. The brush of the bank BU is connected withthe winding 558 of the selector CRB over a back contact For the purposeof actuating these selectors one step in response to each car movingover the switch a forward relay such as relay V1A or VlB controlled by arail section ahead of the switch, and a rear relay such as relay V2A orVzB controlled by a rail section in the rear of the switch, areprovided. Assuming a car to be approaching the switch A from the hump,when its wheels and axles span the rail section shown just ahead of thatswitch, the relay VIA is energized over a circuit extending from thepositive terminal I539 of the current source Ys over wire ml to theupper rail thence through the wheels and axles of the car to the lowerrail and to the winding of the relay V1A and to the negative terminal 93of the current source. As the car advances to the point where its wheelsand axlesspan the rail section back of the switch the relay VzA issupplied with current over a circuit extending from the positiveterminal H30 to the upper rail thence the wheels and axles of the car tothe lower rail and to the winding of the relay VzA'and thence to thenegative terminal 93. By means of the front contacts 83 and 84' of thesetwo relays, the relay V1A will be maintained energized until the relayV2A is released. These two relays control by their contacts 85 and 8G atrailing relay TA, the arrangement being such that the relay TA isenergized as a car passes over the switch in a normal direction butremains deenergized for a trailing movement. In the normal movement, theforward relay VlA is first energized and by its upper contact 85 and thelower contact 88 of the rear relay VaA, the relay TA is picked up afterwhich it is maintained energized over its own front contact Bl until theforward relay is released and the front contact 85 is opened. In theevent a car passes over the switch in a trailing direction the rearrelay V2A will be energized previous to the energizing of the relay V1Aand the relay TA will remain deenergized.

The contacts 88 and 89 of the two route relays V1A and V2A,respectively, and the contact 90 of=the relay-TA are interposed inseries in the circuit from terminal Bl for energizing the steppingmagnet 9? of selector CRA. It follows that eachtime a car passes overthe switch A in the normal direction, the magnet 9! of selector CRA isenergized and then deenergized to advance selector CRA one step when thecar has cleared the switch.

The routerel-ays V113 and V2B associated with the switch B arecontrolled in a manner similar to that justdescribed for the routerelays VIA. andVzA, the two relays V113 and V23 being operated as a carpasses over the switch B. A trailing relay TB is also associated withthese relays VB and V213, and these three relays by means of theirrespective front contacts control the energizing of magnet 93 of theselector CRB.

As stated hereinbefore, the operation of the switch points A and B isaccomplished by means of switch machines of any of the standard typesand, since such machines form no part of my present invention, they arenot shown in detail for the sake of simplicity. It is deemed sufficientfor the present'specificatlon to say that, when current is suppliedfromthe'positive terminal 92 of source Y7 to the wire AL, the switchmachine SMA is'. operated toset switch A for movement to the left, thatis, for movement toward the track 1. -When a reverse current is suppliedfrom the negative terminal 93 of source Y6 to the wire AR, the switchAis set to the right for movement toward the switch B. In like manner,when current is supplied from terminal 92 to the wire BL, the switchmachine'SMBis operated to set switch B to the left, that is,'formovement toward the tracks 2 and 3 and, when current is supplied fromterminal 93 to the wire BR, the switch B is set to the right formovement toward the tracks 4 and 5. Current is supplied to the wires AL,AR, BL andBR over contacts of the group relays G of the assemblages E1E5. As shown in Fig 4, the terminal 92 of the current source Y7 of Fig.4a is connected to the front contacts I06 of each of the G1 relays ofthe assemblages, and to the contact I04 of the G2 relay of each of theassemblages. The terminal 93 of the current source Ye is connected to 5the i233 contact of each of the several G2 relays,

1 MI leading to contact I of the bank BDA of the selector CRA so thatwhen the brush of bank BDA is on contact I, a circuit is completed overwire AR through the switch machine SMA' to wire I III which leads to thepositive terminal of source Ye, for operating the switch A to the right.Contact its of the relay G2 of assemblage E1 connects the positiveterminal 92 of source Y7 over wire I5I to the contact I of the bank BCBof the selector CRB so thatwhen the brush of bank BCB-is on contact I, acircuit is completed over wire BL th'roughthe switch machine SMB towireI I, which'also leads "to the negative terminal I00 of source Y: foroperating the switch B to the left. i It follows, therefore, that therelay G2 of assemblage E1 when energized is effective to set theswitches A and B for the route 3, it being understood that switch C hasbeen operated to the right by the local operator at station PC asalready explained. For every stored record there is, therefore, a grouprelay'i-n the respective assemblage which is energized and which iseffective to supply current to the corresponding contacts of the BC andBD banks of the respective switch selectors.

It is to be noted that prior to the recording the routes for a series ofcars the selectors CRA and CRB are in synchronism with the rotaryselector SE of Fig. 2. To be explicit, with the selector set at'theposition, theselectors CRA and CRB are set one step aheadat theirrespective contacts I. In other words, with the record- 'G1isenergized'and that route 4 for a third car is storedin assemblage E3so that its relay G3 is energized. It will also be assumed that switch Dis moved to-the left by the local operator when the record for route 4is received so as to complete route 4 and not route 5 when switches Aand B areboth moved to the right.

Asthe first car passes over the switch A, it energizes the route relaysV1A and V2A and relay 'TA and, consequently, magnet 91 of the selectorCRA is energized from terminal 9| over the contacts -88, 89, and 90.'When the car clears the switch A, these route relays are deenergizedand, in turn, magnet 91 is deenergized and selector first car clears theswitch B, these route relays are deenergized and, in turn, magnet 98 ofthe selector CRB is deenergized to advance that selec- 'tor to itscontacts 2. The contact 2 of bank BCA of selector CRA is now suppliedwith current from terminal 92 over the I06 contact of the relay G1 -ofassemblage E2 and wire I32, and hence, the switch A is set-to the leftto direct the second car to route 1.

Since the switch B is not included in the route for the second car, itis necessary to advance the selector CRB one step and this is donethrough the medium of the bank BU of that selector. From a sourceconnected to the front contact I05 of the G1 relay of assemblage E2current is supplied over wire I12 to the contact 2 of bank BU, and,hence, as the selector CRB advances to the contact 2 in response to thefirst car clearing the switch B, magnet 98 is energized over its backcontact 82, which contact is immediately opened to again deenergizemagnet 98 and advance selector CRB to its contact 3. The brush of bankBDB of the selector CRB then becomes connected to the negative terminal93 over wire I83 and contact 3 due to the fact that contact I30 of therelay G3 of assemblage Es'iS closed, consequently, the switch B is setto the right for directing the third car to route l.

As the second car advances over the switch A toward-route 1; it operatesthe route relays in the manner previously pointed out and the selectorCRA is advanced to its contacts 3 as the car clears the switch. Thebrush of bank BDA of selector CRA then becomes connected to the negativeterminal 93 over'wire I44 and contact 3 due to contact I3I of the relayGs of assemblages E3 beingclosed, and the switch A is set to the right-for advancing the third car toward route 4. In

the'same manner the switches A and B will be set for each succeeding carand, if there are five destinations recorded, the selectors CRA and CRBare successively advanced as the five different cars pass totheirdestinations until they reach the contact I. Hence, the selectors CRAand CRB for the switch points are retained in synchronism withtherecording'selector SE of Fig. 2.

IV. The system has been described as applied to a concrete case of aclassification yard such as shown in Fig. 1 and in which system fiverecords are simultaneously effected at the cen tralstation forautomatically controlling the two switch points A and B and forautomatically announcing to the operator at the central station thesuccessive routes the five different cars are to take, the operatoracting on these announcements for governing the position of the switchesC and D.

It is obvious that the principle of the system is not modified if it isapplied to any number of destinations and that the switch points may allbe automatically operated according to the records. It is clear, on theother hand, that without altering the principle of the system it ispossible to replace the rotary selectors employed in the abovedescription by relay selectors, as will hereinafter be explained indescribing the second form of the apparatus. I

In the matter of records, it is likewise possible to combine differentlythe recording members, such as the group and row relays of the differentassemblages, which can be replaced for example, by relays of tens and ofunits, or automatic and unit point relays, group relays, sub-grouprelays and unit relays. The combination to be adopted in order to reduceto a minimum the number of recording relays will depend in each case onthe track layout of the classification yard and on the relative numberof switch points to be automatically operated.

It is evident that it is possible, by means of the manually operatedcontroller 53 (Fig. 2), to employ the automatic recording system for theoperation of the announcements only, eliminating entirely the apparatusrelating to the automatic operation of the switch points A and B (Figs.4 and 4 On the other hand, the apparatus for the operation of theannouncements may be eliminated (Figs. 3 and 3 leaving the records toautomatically control the railway switches.

Figs. 5 and 6 show in particular a modification of the system with aview of the automatic control of the switch points without announcementsby the use of record groups of relays and without a recording selector.

The recording of the destinations in this form of the apparatus isefiected directly in apparatus provided for each railway switch to beoperated. The selector for the railway switch then picks up the recordsone after the other as and when the switch is cleared by the car or cutsof cars and distributes the records to the switch operating mechanism.

The recording apparatus for each individual switch in this arrangementis connected to the hump station by two wires I01 and I08. If for a carthe switch when viewed from the hump track is to have the positionright, the wire I01 alone is temporarily energized. If the switch whenviewed from the hump track is to have the position left, the wires I!and I08 are energized at the same time temporarily. At the hump station,there are provided as many buttons V1, etc., as there are destinationsor routes, as in the first form of the apparatus. For each switch of aroute the button comprises oneor two contacts (according as to whetherit is to be right or left) which, when the button is pressed, suppliescurrent from terminal I29 to the wire I01 only if the position of theswitch is to be right, and to both wires I01 and I08 if the position ofthe switch is to be left.

Fig. gives by way of example the diagram of the button V3 for route 3for the classification yard shown in Fig. 1 on the assumption that allthe switches A, B, C, and D are automatically operated.

As is apparentfromthe drawings,the operation of button V3 connects thepositive terminal I29 to wire ID'IA for switch A to operate switch A tothe right; to wires I011; and I063 for switch B to operate switch B tothe left; and to wire Ifllc for switch C to operate switch C to theright, to

thereby establish route 3. The connections for each of the switches V1,V2, V4 and V5, for the remaining routes 1, 2, 4, and 5 of Fig. 1, to thewires I0! for switches A, B and C and to wire I08 for switch B areindicated by arrows in Fig. 5. It will be clear, moreover, that switchesV1 and V2 may also connect terminal 29 to wires I08, not shown, forswitches A and C, respectively, to operate these switches to the leftfor routes 1 and 2 and that switches V4 and V5 may be provided withadditional contacts for controlling switches D, if required.

Fig. 6 illustrates a recording group comprising rows of relays providedin this form of the apparatus in place of the relay assemblages E, aseparate group being provided for each switch, but one of which isshown. Each row of relays having the same numerical suffix replaces theassemblage E in the control of the switch to which the group isassigned, except that, in this form, one additional row is required sothat for five storages six rows of relays in each group are provided.

As illustrated, but four rows of one group are shown. All rows arealike, and each includes a transmission relay X, a counting relay YY,and a switch control relay Z each having a numerical sufiix identifyingthe row. The rows of relays, like the assemblages E. are usedsuccessively, row 1 following the last row of the group, and it is to beunderstood that the contacts above the relays of the first row in Fig. 6are the lower contacts of the relays of the last row in this case, thesixth row, assuming five storages to be provided.

The wire I07 for the switch which the recording group controls isarranged to be connected to each transmission relay X of the group, sayrelay X2 for example, by a circuit passing over a lower contact I09 ofthe preceding transmission relay X1, a lower contact I I!) of thecounting relay YYz of the same row, and an upper contact III of thepreceding counting relay YY1.

In this circuit the lower contacts H0 and I09 can be shunted by a branchcircuit, i. e., a stick circuit passing over an upper contact II2 of thesaid transmission relay X2.

The counting relays YY each possess an energizing circuit passing overthe upper contact I20 of the transmission relay X of the same row, and astick circuit which passes over their upper contacts I I3 and a lowercontact I I4 of the preceding transmission relay X.

The wire I08 is arranged to be connected to each control relay Z by theupper contact II5 of the transmission relay X of the same row and anupper contact H6 of the counting relay YY of the same row. To facilitatereading the diagram, he contacts H5 are shown remote from the windingsof the relays X. Each of the control relays Z also has a stick circuitwhich passes over its contact I I! and the upper contact IIB of relay YYof the same row.

The control relays Z establish the control circuits of the switch pointsfor each record; control to the right by closing the lower contact H8and control to the left by closing the upper contact H9. The controlsthus stored in the recording group are distributed to the switches asand when the cars pass by means of a step-bystep system, for example, ofthe kind previously described with reference to Figs. 4 and 4 In thislast case, the connection between the recording group of Fig. 6 and theswitch selector CR, Fig. 4 is effected in the following manner:

A connection is provided, as shown in Fig. 6,

one, for example, the relay YYz.

.cn-aacaa.

from .the positive terminal .92 :of source "Y1, Fig. 14*, to'contacts '9of the. relays Z1,.Z2, etc, each of which is connected to the.corresponding contacts I, 2, etc., of the switch bank BC for theassociated track switch, thebrush of bank.BC,as shown in Fig. 4 beingconnected by a control wire. AL or BL to the switch machine SM. Asimilar connection is provided from. the negative terminal 93 tocontacts .I I8 oflthe relaysZ, each of which is connected-to thecorresponding contacts I, 2, etc., of the switch bank ED for theassociated tracksswitch, the brush of bank BD being connected to thecontrol wire AR or BR for the switch machine. It will beapparent thatthe switch will be. controlled successively by the relays Z in the samemanner asit is controlled by the relays G of assemblages E in the firstform of the apparatus. It should be noted, however, that in this form itis unnecessary to provide a switch bank BU for switch B because of theprinciple of individual recording, the records'for route 1 not beingstoredin the recorder for switch B in this form of the apparatus.

The operation of the recording group of Fig. 6

is as follows:

At a given-moment, all the counting relays are held energized over theirstick circuits, except Certain control relays are energized (accordingto the nature of the orders already recorded) the relay Z2 correspondingto YYzbeing deenergized. All the transmission relays X are deenergized.

Suppose that a record is stored by pressing the button of a route whichincludes the'switch corresponding to the recording group of'Fig. 6 andsuppose that the setting of the switch for this route is to the left,the wires I01 and I08 for the corresponding recording group areenergized during the time that the button is pressed.

By the circuit extending from the positive battery terminal I29, wireIllI, contact I09 of X1, contact IIIl of YYz, contact III of YY1,winding of relay X2, and to the negative terminal, the relay X2 isenergized and it is the only X relay to be energized as the backcontacts of all the other relays YY are open. By closing the contactI20, the relay X2 energizes the relay YYz which is maintained energizedby the closing of its stick circuit including contacts I I3 and H4.

On the other hand, by closing its front contact II2, the relay X2completes its own stick circuit which maintains it energized so long asthe button is pressed.

By breaking the contact IZI, the relay X2 deenergizes the next countingrelay YY3 which remains deenergized until the next record is receivedand deenergizes if necessary the control relay Z3.

By the closing of contact II5 of X2 and the contact H6 of YY2 theenergizing circuit of the control relay Z2 is completed provided WireI08 is energized. The relay Z2 when energized is maintained energizedover a stick circuit including its contact Ill. By its contact II9 itcompletes the circuit from terminal 92 over the control wire which leadsto the contact 2 of the bank BC of the switch selector CR. When thebutton is released, the relay X2 is deenergized, but the relays YYz andZ2 remain energized over their respective stick circuits.

The operation of storing a record therefore includes:

(l) The energization of that one of the counting relays YY that isdeenergized and in the case in which the switchis to be operated to theleft,

the energization of the corresponding control relay Z. i

(2) The deenergization of the next counting relay and, if necessary, ofthe corresponding control relay. It will be seen that the state of thesystem is the same as before recording, except that it has advanced onestepas regards the relays which are deenergized.

It is obvious that iin+1 is the number of the recording rows there arealways n in which the counting relay is energized, that is to say, thereare n routes recorded. It is likewise obvious that the functions ofclassification or counting of the records are performed solely by thewire I01, the transmission relays X and the counting relays YY. By theuse of several wires such as H38 and a combination of control relayssuch as Z1 to Z4 in each row it would be possible to effect records ofseveral different characters.

In general, the arrangement constituted by the transmission relays. andthe counting relays may be utilized in combination with any system ofcontrol, whenever it is desired to execute the orders in a definiteorder of succession.

I have now described in detail two forms of apparatus embodying myinvention. The mode of operation of this apparatus may be summarized asfollows: In the first form, route designations are transmitted in theform of code combinations, by the operation of one or another of aseries of push buttons V, of which one is provided for each route. Anauxiliary designation of quality is also transmitted, by operating abutton II or I2 each time a button V is operated.

The designations arerecorded successively in a series of relayassemblages E by energizing relays in different combinations, and arestored until cancelled. A rotary selector SE places the relays of eachassemblage E in turn under the control of the push buttons until all theassernblages are occupied, whereupon a signal bell S is operated. Thestored records are cancelled in the same order, either manually by anoperator when the corresponding car reaches its destinaassemblageprovided the first record has been F cancelled.

The stored records are used for two purposes, one being to control aseries of visual indicators operating in such a manner as to alwaysexhibit the stored announcements in the order they are to be used, thefirst uncancelled route record being'exhibited by the first indicatoralthough it may be stored in any of the assemblages. The cancellation ofthe first record advances each remaining announcement to the nextindicator leaving the last indicator vacant.

The second purpose for which the stored records are used is toautomatically operate one or more of the track switches to set up, inwhole or in part, the track route corresponding to the visualannouncement. This is accomplished by rotary selectors controlled bytrack relays which place the switches under the control of each of theassemblages E in turn as the successive cars vacate the correspondingswitch sections.

The second form of the apparatus is arranged for the automatic controlof the track switches only without announcements, and differs fromthe'corresponding portion of the first form principally'in that relaychains such as that oi-Flg. 6

are used in place of the assemblage E and the rotary switch SE, and inthat individual control is employed with separate line wires for eachswitch, in place of route code combinations.

Although I have herein shown and described only two forms of apparatusembodying my invention, it is understood that various changes andmodifications may be made therein within the scope of the appendedclaims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A control system including, a passageway adaptable of diiferentarrangements for passing an object from a head point to any one of aplurality of different destinations, recording apparatus at the headpoint including a circuit controller for each of said destinations, anautomatically advancing selector having a given number of operativepositions, a group of relays for each of said positions each groupadaptable of being energized in a particular arrangement for eachdestination, means governed by each circuit controller when actuatedeffective to advance the selector one position and to energize the relaygroup corresponding to this new position in the arrangementcorresponding to the same destination as the actuated controller, meansfor retaining the selected relays of a group energized to store thedestination orders for as many different objects as positions of saidselector, operating means controlled by the relay group effective toarrange the passageway for the destinations corresponding to theselected arrangement, and means governed by an object in passing to itsdestination effective to release the control of the next succeedinggroup of relays for arranging the passageway for the next succeedingobject.

2. A control system including, a passageway adaptable of differentarrangements for passing an object from a head point to any one of aplurality of different destinations, a central station from which thepassageway is to be manually arranged for the different destinations,recording apparatus at the head point including a circuit controller foreach of said destinations, an automatically advancing selector having agiven number of operative positions, a group of relays for each of saidpositions each group adaptable of being energized in a particulararrangement for each destination, means governed by each circuitcontroller when actuated effective to advance the selector one positionand to energize the corresponding relay group in the arrangementcorresponding to the same destination as the actuated controller, meansfor retaining the selected relays of a group energized to store thedestination orders for as many different objects as positions of saidselector, and means at the central station controlled by the relaygroups effective to announce the stored destination orders in thesequence the successive objects are to move over the passageway.

3. A control system including, a passageway adaptable of differentarrangements for passing an object from a head point to any one of aplurality of different destinations, a central station from which thepassageway is to be manually arranged for the different destinations,recording apparatus at the head point including a circuit controller foreach of said destinations, an automatically advancing selector having agiven number of operative positions, a group of relays for each of saidpositions each group adaptable of being energized in a particulararrangement for each destination, means governed by each circuitcontroller when actuated effective to advance the selector one positionand to energize the corresponding relay group in the arrangementcorresponding to the same destination as the actuated controller, meansfor retaining the selected relays of a group energized to store thedestination orders for as many different objects as positions of saidselector, means at the central station controlled by the relay groupseffective to announce the stored destination orders in the sequence thesuccessive objects are to move over the passageway, and means controlledby the announcing means effective when said given number of orders arestored for preventing the recording means from advancing the selector.

4. A control system including, a passageway adaptable of differentarrangements for passing an object from a head point to any one of aplurality of different destinations, a central station from which thepassageway is to be manually arranged for the different destinations,recording apparatus at the head point including a circuit controller foreach of said destinations, an automatically advancing selector having agiven number of operative positions, a group of relays for each of saidpositions each group adaptable of being energized in a particulararrangement for each destination, means governed by each circuitcontroller when actuated effective to advance the selector one positionand to energize the corresponding relay group in the arrangementcorresponding to the same destination as the actuated controller, meansfor retaining the selected relays of a group energized to store thedestination orders for as many different objects as positions of saidselector, means at the central station controlled by the relay groupseffective to announce the stored destination orders in the sequence thesuccessive objects are to move over the passageway, and manuallycontrolled means at the central station effective to successively cancelthe announcements.

5. A control system including, a passageway adaptable of differentarrangements for passing an object from a head point to any one of aplurality of different destinations, a central station from which thepassageway is to be manually arranged for the different destinations,recording apparatus at the head point including a circuit controller foreach of said destinations, an automatically advancing selector having agiven number of operative positions, a group of relays for each of saidpositions each group adaptable of being energized in a particulararrangement for each destination, means governed by each circuitcontroller when actuated effective to advance the selector one positionand to energize the corresponding relay group in the arrangementcorresponding to the same destination as the actuated controller, meansfor retaining the selected relays of a group energized to store thedestination orders for as many different objects as positions of saidselector, a plurality of indicators at the central office one for eachrelay group and each indicator capable of displaying a particularannouncement for each of said destinations, means controlled by therelay groups for governing the indicators effective to successivelydisplay on the indicator the destinations corresponding to the storedorders, and manually controlled means effective to cancel anannouncement and to advance each of the remaining announcements to thenext preceding indicator.

6. A control system including a passageway adaptable of differentarrangements for passing an object from a head point to any one of aplurality of different destinations, a central station from which thepassageway is to be manually arranged for the different destinations, aplurality of groups of relays each group adaptable of being energized ina particular arrangementfor each destination, means for retaining theselected relays of a group energized for simultaneously recording thedestinations of as many different objects as there are groups of relays,means at the central station controlled by the relay groups effective toannounce the destination orders as stored by the groups, anautomatically advancing selector including two contact banks each bankhaving a distinctive contact for each relay group, means controlled byone bank effective to deenergize the selected relays of a group inresponse to the selector advancing to the corresponding contact, meanscontrolled by the other bank effective to prevent the canceling of theselected relays of the group unless the object has passed to thedestination of the selection, recording apparatus at the head pointincluding a circuit controller for each destination, and meanscontrolled by each controller when actuated effective to advance theselector one contact and to energize the relays of thecorrespondinggroup in the arrangement corresponding to the same destination as thecontroller if the previous selection has been canceled.

7. A control system including, a passageway for passing an object from ahead point to any one of a plurality of different destinations, acentral station from which an operator is to arrange the passageway,recording means at the head point including a circuit controller foreach destination and a plurality of quality controllers, anautomatically advancing selector having a given number of operativepositions, a group of relays for each of said positions including adestination relay and a quality relay and adaptable of being energizedin a particular arrangement for each destination and each quality,meansgoverned jointly by a destination controller and a quality controllerwhen simultaneously actuated effective to advance the selector oneposition and to energize the corresponding relay group according to theactuated controllers, means for retaining the selected relays of a groupenergized to; store the orders for as many different objects aspositions of said selector, and announcing means controlled by saidrelay groups.

8. A control system including, a passageway adaptable of differentarrangements for passing an object from a head point to any one of, ap11).- rality of different destinations, recording apparatus at the headpoint including a circuit controller for each of said destinations, anautomatically advancing recording selector having a plurality, ofdifferent operating positions, record means for each of said positionseach adaptable of being energized in a particular arrangement for eachdestination, means governed by each circuit controller when actuatedeffective to'advance'the recording selector one position and to energizethe record means corresponding to this new position in the arrangementcorresponding to the same destination as the actuated controller,meansjfor, retaining the record means energized-to storethe destinationorders for as manydifferent objects aspositions of said selector,aplurality of: operating devices capable of different positions forarranging the passageway for the different destinations, an operatingselector for each of such devices each having as manypositions as therecording selectors, means controlled by the record mean and including aposition of the operating selectors effective to govern the operatingdevices, and means controlled by the successive objects in passing overthe pasageway for synchronizing the position of the operating selectorswith the recording selector.

9. A control system including a passageway adaptable of differentarrangements for passing an object from a head point to any one of aplurality of different destinations, recording app-aratus at the headpoint including a circuit controller for each of said destinations, aplurality of relay asemblages each adaptable of being energized in aparticular arrangement for each destination, means responsive tosuccessive operation of the controller of the recording means effectiveto supply current to the asemblages successively and to energize therelays of each assemblage in the arrangement for the destinationcorresponding to the destination of the controller actuated for thatassemblage, means for each assemblage effective to retain the selectedrelays energized to store the destination orders for as many differentobjects as there are assemblages, operating means controlled by therelay assemblages effective to arrange the passageway for thedestination corresponding to the selected arrangement, and meansgoverned by an object in passing to its destination effective to releasethe control of the next succeeding assemblage for arranging thepassageway for the next succeeding object.

10. A control system including a classification yard having a pluralityof classification tracks and track switches, each switch having a rightand a left position and said switches capable of arrangement in variouscombinations as to positions to form a distinctive route for each track,a plurality of relay asemblages each adaptable of being energizedin aparticular arrangement for each route, recording means at a head pointincluding a circuit controller for each route, means responsive tosuccessive operation of the controllers'of the recording means effectiveto supply current to the assemblages successively and to energize therelays of each assemblage in the arrangementfor the route correspondingto the route of the controller actuated for that assemblage, means foreach assemblage effective to retain the selected relays energized tostore the route orders for as many difierent cars as there areassemblages, operating means for each track switch, means governed bythe relay assemblages effective to actuate the operating means forarranging the track switches for the route corresponding to the selectedarrangement of that assemblage, and trackway means governed by a car inpassing to its classification track effective to release the control ofthe next succeeding assemblage to set the trackswitches for thefollowing car.

11. A control system including a classification yard having a pluralityof classification tracks and track switches, each switch having a rightand a left position and said switches capable of arrangement in variouscombinations as to positions to form a distinctive route for each track,a first recording means at a head point including a circuit controllerfor each route, a second recording means at the head point including acir-

